


Here, We Let Our Hearts Roam

by meanderingmirth



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 15:04:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4105269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meanderingmirth/pseuds/meanderingmirth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Up in the north, they say ice giants still walk the landscape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here, We Let Our Hearts Roam

**Author's Note:**

> I stumbled upon [this photoset](http://sixpenceee.com/post/103619163069/the-land-of-the-giants-electrical-pylons/) on tumblr and was sufficiently motivated.
> 
> It's also 6am and I have no conception of time or space anymore, lol _(┐「ε:)_
> 
> Enjoy!

“It’s getting colder,” Wonshik hums as he stares out the window of Sanghyuk’s coffee shop, fingers wrapped around a purple porcelain mug. Sanghyuk leans over the counter and hits his friend with a damp dishtowel, earning a yelp of indignation.

“Then go get your heater fix and quit lounging around my cafe,” Sanghyuk huffs, ignoring Wonshik’s wounded look.

“But—”

“Don’t  _but_  me,” Sanghyuk says sharply, jabbing a finger into Wonshik’s sweater. “I don’t know how this puppy crush of yours on your building’s maintenance guy has gotten so out of hand, but do me and yourself a favour and just suck up your pride and call him in before you freeze to death in your sleep.”

“You’re a jerk,” Wonshik mutters, taking a large gulp of coffee.

“I’m amazing,” Sanghyuk shoots back, drumming his fingers on the clear countertop. “You just can’t see it.”

“Right,” Wonshik sniggers, and then the bell on the door chimes as a new customer walks in. The minute Sanghyuk catches sight of who it is, he straightens instantly, making Wonshik snort into his mug and waggle his eyebrows before retreating back to the table he’d commandeered in the corner of the cafe.

Sanghyuk pretends not to notice Wonshik watching him as Taekwoon walks up to the countertop, frost clinging to the tips of his dark hair, face pale and lips bright red.

“Good morning,” Sanghyuk greets, smiling, and Taekwoon inclines his head a little, accidentally shaking a few droplets of water onto the floor.

“Iced latte please,” the older man says quietly, and Sanghyuk nods as he punches in the order into the rickety cash register.

“Three coppers,” he says, and swirls around to grab a paper cup off the shelf to start Taekwoon’s drink. Taekwoon orders the same thing at the same time in Sanghyuk’s cafe every single day. He figures he could probably make Taekwoon’s drink just before the man arrives and save him the waiting time, but Sanghyuk’s a little selfish. He wants Taekwoon to stay a little longer.

“It’s getting colder,” he says brightly, parroting Wonshik’s words to the other man. Taekwoon looks up from where he’s counting his coins out on his palm, nodding slowly.

“Winter is almost here,” he says softly, watching Sanghyuk add ice cubes into the coffee.

“No kidding,” Sanghyuk grins, sliding the drink across the counter and taking the copper coins Taekwoon drops into his hand. “Are you ever going to try some of our hot coffees and teas? I swear they’re just as good as the iced ones.”

“I don’t like hot drinks,” Takewoon murmurs, and then he’s backing out of the cafe, sliding the straw into his mouth as he does, and Sanghyuk has to exert physical effort in keeping his jaw from dropping as the man leaves exits. Across the cafe, Wonshik snorts loudly.

“Who was it that had a puppy crush again?” he asks, and then scrambles to his feet as Sanghyuk throws the towel across the store at him.

+

Winter may be a barren and lonesome season in other parts of the country, but it’s anything but lonely when the ice and snow descends upon Sanghyuk’s little town. The mountains surrounding them are teeming with old magic, and just as spring, summer, and autumn creatures thrive in their season, winter hosts its fair share of new visitors, roused after another long year of sleep. It’s an exclusive time for winter creatures, because while any other creature can make do in the warmer seasons, nothing can live through the cold if they’re not meant to, and winter is a long season in the north.

Sanghyuk has always loved winter. So much that when his family eventually decided to move into the valleys near the southern borders of the country, he opted to stay behind and care for their old restaurant, which was refurbished and turned into a little cafe about two years ago.

That was when Taekwoon first showed up.

He hadn’t made a particularly strong impression, even after Sanghyuk had to ask him to repeat his order several times because of how quiet Taekwoon was, but after the older man started coming in every day, it didn’t take long for Sanghyuk to wish their interactions lasted longer, and that he didn’t have to secretly angle his hand just so he could brush his fingers against Taekwoon’s cold ones.

There was another thing. Taekwoon only came during the winter. He once told Sanghyuk he travelled some, and moved when the seasons called for it, so there was always a good three-fourths of the year that Sanghyuk spent in the warmth and sunshine and with an inevitable lack of Taekwoon. Wonshik once joked that Taekwoon was probably a winter creature of sorts, with his mysterious persona and love of cold drinks during the winter. Sanghyuk had laughed, but he wasn’t totally dismissive of the thought. They interacted with all kinds of creatures during the years, and if Taekwoon was magical in some way, the only thing Sanghyuk wanted to know was just what Taekwoon  _was_.

He brings this thought up when he and Hakyeon are closing the cafe up for the night.

“Why don’t you just ask?” Hakyeon suggests, and Sanghyuk makes a face.

“That’s kind of invasive. I don’t wanna do that.”

“Then you’re probably never going to find out,” Hakyeon laughs, pushing a stack of chairs into the corner of the store. “I’ve seen how quiet that guy is, he’s never going to say anything on his own.”

“Not everybody’s as nosy as you are,” Sanghyuk teases, and has to scramble over the counter when Hakyeon’s eyes narrow and he makes a dash towards the younger man.

Several things happen at once.

Sanghyuk’s gaze slides over to the window of the cafe, where he first sees Taekwoon standing outside, looking at something down the street, and the front door bursts open as Hakyeon’s husband rushes into the cafe.

“Come out,” Hongbin pants, clutching at his side as his eyes shone with excitement. “The ice giants are walking.”

Sanghyuk’s eyes widen, and then he and Hakyeon are dashing outside as well, not even bothering to retrieve their jackets. Outside, he can see others spilling out onto the snow-covered sidewalks, looking down the street and into the distance as the fading remains of the evening sunlight begin to dip below the horizon.

Far, far away, above the roofs of warm houses and beyond the rolling hills, are the slow, looming figures of the ice giants.

Hakyeon makes an awed little sound, shivering in the cold, and Hongbin absentmindedly takes his scarf off and wraps it around Hakyeon’s neck. Sanghyuk brings his hands up to blow hot air into his palms as he watches the skeletal figures move mournfully across the side of the mountain, their long limbs gliding along languidly. Their skeletons are powerfully sheer white in colour that it makes the pristine snow on the mountainside appear grey.

Of all the creatures that appear in their town, the ice giants are the rarest of all. Perhaps it is their colossal size, or their strange biological makeup, but they preferred to stay hidden amongst the chasms of the mountains, only rising to cross over the landscape for reasons unknowns to anybody but them. There’s a lot of superstition surrounding the ice giants back in the day, but most had faded over time, and the only one anybody really cared about was to make a wish when one appeared. They were like shooting stars, in some sense.

“I wish I brought my camera,” Hongbin says wistfully. “But it’d be tough to get a good shot from here.”

“It’s been years since I’ve seen an ice giant,” Hakyeon breathes. “I was only a kid back then.”

“They made an appearance about three years ago,” Sanghyuk points out, but Hakyeon huffs.

“I was out of the country back then, remember? I was so upset about it to, I really wanted to see them again. There’s just... something about the giants. It’s fascinating to see them.”

Sanghyuk and Hongbin both make noises of agreement, eyes trained on the giants as they walk down the lower portion of the mountain before slowly vanishing from view between the layer of fog and snow in the distance.

“That was an experience,” Hongbin muses, and then he turns to Hakyeon. “Are you guys almost done closing up?”

“Almost,” Hakyeon says, glancing meaningfully at Sanghyuk, and he rolls his eyes.

“I think I can handle the rest of mopping alone,” he sighs, and Hakyeon grins at him.

“You’re the best, Sanghyukkie!” he cheers, throwing his arms around Sanghyuk. “I’ll see you tomorrow for the afternoon shift!”

“Yeah yeah,” Sanghyuk says, pushing Hakyeon off him and over to Hongbin. “Don’t be late!”

“I’ll get him here on time,” Hongbin promises, clasping a hand on Sanghyuk’s shoulder, and then the couple is walking down the street to where Hongbin’s parked their car, hand in hand and still talking about the ice giants. Sanghyuk puffs out another breath, watching it rise into the cold air, and when he turns around he nearly runs headlong into Taekwoon.

“Whoa!” he gasps, hands shooting out to grasp Taekwoon’s arms in an attempt steady himself, and then Sanghyuk lets go as though burned, which is ridiculous because Taekwoon’s arms are as cold as ever. Sanghyuk’s only ever seen the man wear a thin jacket overtop a variety of plain shirts despite the freezing weather.

“Sorry,” Taekwoon apologizes, a hand reaching out to grasp Sanghyuk’s elbow, and Sanghyuk wills himself not to blush.

“It’s okay, I’m the one that almost ran into you,” he stammers, offering a sheepish grin. “Are you headed home for the night?”

“Mm,” Taekwoon says, neither a confirmation nor a denial, and then his gaze slides from Sanghyuk to the mountains far away. “What do you think of the ice giants?”

“Eh?” Sanghyuk blinks, momentarily thrown off by the question. “Oh. Um, well, I don’t know much about them, since they don’t really appear often, right? But each time I see them I’m still reminded of the same feeling I got when I first saw the giants as a child.”

“What was that?” Taekwoon asks, tilting his head, and Sanghyuk chuckles, shuffling his feet in embarrassment.

“I thought they looked like kings,” he admits. “Some kind of old, long-lost king rising from his sleep to ensure all was well.”

Taekwoon mouth twitches upwards in a little smile. “Kings?” he repeats, and Sanghyuk ducks his head with a groan.

“Don’t laugh at me,” he whines, faking a childish pout.

“I’m not,” Taekwoon reassures him. “I wouldn’t.”

The words hang in the air between them for a moment, surprisingly heavy, and then Taekwoon is looking away, pearly white teeth chewing on his lower lip, and Sanghyuk realizes that Taekwoon is  _embarrassed_. He hastens to reply.

“T-thanks,” he laughs, reaching out to give Taekwoon a friendly nudge with his elbow. “That’s nice of you.”

Taekwoon looks up, and their eyes meet. Taekwoon’s are bright and glassy smooth, reflecting the lights of the glowing street lamps around them, and Sanghyuk wishes he could see what his own looked like from the other man’s perspective.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Taekwoon says softly, and Sanghyuk nods, smiling.

“See you tomorrow.”

+

Each day brings them closer to the heart of winter. Sanghyuk takes down the chalkboards hanging on the wall behind his counter and erases the last of the autumn drinks to make room for the hot winter ones. His regulars shuffle in bundled up to their noses with coats and scarves, and after Sanghyuk adamantly put his foot down about letting him sleep in the cafe, Wonshik finally called the building maintenance guy he’d apparently fallen for and had his heater fixed. From what Sanghyuk could gather, his name was Jaehwan and he could do approximately eight different animal impressions whilst dancing. Sangyuk doesn’t ask Wonshik how he obtained that information.

Taekwoon still comes in every day, looking livelier by the day as the temperatures continued to drop, and ordered iced latte after iced latte. Somedays he’d order some of Sanghyuk’s fresh baked cookies too, but not often, and Taekwoon only ever ate the smallest ones.

They chat a bit more now, sometimes about Sanghyuk’s newest items on the menu or about various winter creature sightings in the area. It’s not much, but it warms Sanghyuk’s heart to see Taekwoon stay later each morning, leaning over the counter to talk to him, fingers running up and down the sides of his cold drink. Whenever he laughs at something Taekwoon says, he’s rewarded with tiny, happy smiles from the other man followed by a customary view of the top of Taekwoon’s head as he ducks his head down to hide his face.

“You should ask him out,” Wonshik suggests one evening as he watches Sanghyuk flip the sign on the door to  _Closed_. Outside, snow is falling heavily, collecting in little white mounds over anything stationary.

“Has Jaehwan’s animal impressions finally rattled your head too much?” Sanghyuk snorts, and Wonshik turns his nose up.

“For the record, he can sing very well too.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Sanghyuk snickers, ducking when Wonshik throws his pencil at him.

“Seriously, you moron. I’ve seen the way that guy looks at you when you have your back turned on him making his drink. I’ve never seen so much longing in a person’s face before. He’s into you, mate.”

Sanghyuk sighs, sticking his hands into his apron pockets as he kicks at a used napkin on the floor. “So what? We still don’t know much about each other. I only ever see Taekwoon in the wintertime, and I don’t know where he goes during the warmer seasons. Besides, I like what we have going on right now. Just casual chatting and the like.”

Wonshik raises an eyebrow. “That isn’t casual chatting, Sanghyuk. You’re literally flirting with each other.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not!”

“Is it such a bad thing to flirt or like somebody?” Wonshik says, and Sanghyuk hesitates. “I’m just saying. You two have the potential. It’s weird to say, but you’d probably be cute together. So suck up your pride and just ask him out for something other than coffee, okay? Because you already own a coffee shop and he already orders from you every day so having a cafe date is cheating.”

“Cheating,” Sanghyuk deadpans, and Wonshik nods solemnly.

“You heard me.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Sanghyuk laughs. “Get out so I can close shop for the night or I’ll be late for dinner at Hakyeon’s and Hongbin’s.”

“Tell them I say hi,” Wonshik groans, dropping his head into his hands. “I’d come over too if the deadline for my exhibition piece for the museum isn’t in the next four days.”

“Told you you should’ve started your design drafts earlier.”

“Bite me.”

They end up leaving together, zippers zipped up all the way and hats pulled down to their ears as the onslaught of wind and snow pelts at them. Sanghyuk waves goodbye to Wonshik, who’s headed up the street back to his apartment, and turns around the block to the public parking area to where his car is parked. He didn’t normally drive since the cafe is a walking distance from his house, but Hakyeon and Hongbin lived half and hour outside of town in the cottage area, so Sanghyuk was driving for the night.

However, fifteen minutes out onto the open road away from the town, Sanghyuk’s starting to think he should’ve cancelled on his friends.

The snow was blowing horizontally across the road and everything is a mass of white, barely illuminated by the glow of the car’s headlights as night began to fall. Sanghyuk chewed on the inside of his cheek as he tightens his grip on the steering wheel. He didn’t want to continue, but if he turned back now, he wasn’t sure he could find his way home.

A sudden burst of wind rocks his car, and then there’s an explosion of light as a larger, oncoming pick up truck abruptly appears from the thick wall of snow, riding too far into Sanghyuk’s lane. Yelping in surprise, he jerks the steering wheel to avoid a collision, and his tires skid onto the ice.

Control is torn from him as the vehicle slides off the road and straight into the ditch at the edge of the road. A crack erupts over his windshield and Sanghyuk’s forehead cracks against the side of his dashboard, momentarily blinding him with pain.

“Shit,” he swears, pressing a hand to his forehead— it comes away red and wet. He swallows hard, feeling the throbbing pain above his eyebrow. Don’t panic, he thinks, Panicking won’t help. He doesn’t freak out, but the mantra doesn’t stop his heart from pounding frantically in his chest as he untangles himself from his seatbelt and tries to search for his phone in his bag, which had been thrown into the windshield as well. The device emerges with a broken and unresponsive screen, and Sanghyuk really has to will himself to stay calm. The storm is raging around him, he’s injured, has no idea how to contact his friends, and the temperatures are dropping.

He doesn’t know what to  _do_.

Another blast of wind rattles his car, harder than before, and Sanghyuk bites into his fist, choking down a sob.

Then, something massive knocks on his window, so big that it nearly pushed Sanghyuk’s car on its side, and he screams.

The thing on the outside immediately retracts, and the ground shudders momentarily. Sanghyuk sucks in a terrified breath and strains to hear over the sound of the wind, which was— dying down? Sanghyuk shudders and looks out of his ruined windshield. What was going on outside?

Praying that he wasn’t making a drastic mistake, he put his hand on the handle, and slowly pushed his car door open.

There, nearly ten feet tall and kneeling next to his car, is an ice giant.

Sanghyuk can feel his jaw dropping.  _Impossible_.

The first thing he sees is how the giant is glowing, its thick, angular bones gleaming as though the moonlight was reflecting off its smooth surface. Its entire frame is narrow but sturdy, and though the giant has no face, its head is tilted towards Sanghyuk, and one of its hands is lying open on the ground, palm facing upwards and its fingers curled slightly inwards.

“W-w-what,” Sanghyuk stammers, clutching his car door for support, and the giant shifts. The storm seems to move with it, and then Sanghyuk realizes that he’s standing in a little pocket of calmer winds and lighter snow with the giant whilst everything else rages around them. It’s like being in the eye of a storm.

The ice giant’s skeletal form is trembling, slowly shrinking in an oddly soundless manner, only making a sound that might resemble a whisper of wind on a still winter night as it slowly collapses in on itself. Sanghyuk can see a much smaller humanoid body come into view, slowly enhancing itself. Lines become stronger, the colours filling in like a paintbrush moving over a blank canvas, and then he’s staring at a familiar face standing in the ditch next to his car.

“Taekwoon?” Sanghyuk breathes, hardly daring to believe it. He watches as Taekwoon takes hesitant steps forwards, eyes wide and almost pleading. He moved slowly, like a person approaching a skittish animal.

“Are you alright?” Takewoon asks, raising his voice over the wind, and Sanghyuk nods numbly.

“I-It’s nothing bad. Just my head.”

Taekwoon comes to a halt before him, and he lifts a hand to push Sanghyuk’s hair away from the cut above his eyebrow. There’s concern, fear, and relief flitting across Taekwoon’s face as his other hand comes up to cup Sanghyuk’s cheek.

“I’m glad you’re not badly hurt,” Taekwoon whispers, and something in Sanghyuk’s self-restraint breaks. He throws his arms around Taekwoon’s middle and crushes his face into Taekwoon’s chest, shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs, and he feels Taekwoon’s arms circle around him, holding Sanghyuk gently against his colder body, soft breath fanning over the top of Sanghyuk’s head.

“It’s alright,” Takewoon murmurs. “You’re safe now. You’re safe with me.”

Sanghyuk only shakes harder than that, out of sheer adrenaline, relief, and unrestrained happiness that Taekwoon was here, Taekwoon was with him, and everything would be okay.

They left Sanghyuk’s car behind and continued on the road by foot. Rather, Taekwoon walked, supporting Sanghyuk with an arm around his shoulders, and as they moved they seemed to glide rather than take actual steps. Sanghyuk couldn’t see anything beyond the wall of snow and ice, but all he knew was that Taekwoon must have some kind of magic, because they were standing in the doorway of Hakyeon and Hongbin’s home in mere moments.

Hakyeon screamed when he opened the door to see an injured Sanghyuk leaning against Taekwoon, and before long Sanghyuk was bundled in warm, dry clothes and sitting on the couch by the roaring fireplace, a cup of hot coca in his hands as Hongbin finished placing a large medical patch over the cut on his forehead. Hakyeon paced around the coffee table, fretting but not allowed to intervene yet, and Taekwoon hovered by the doorway, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

“We’ll see a doctor tomorrow when we go back to town,” Hongbin promised, and Sanghyuk nods.

“Thanks,” he says weakly, and Hongbin gave him a light pat on the head.

“We were so worried something might happen to you on the road, and when you showed up like that I’m pretty sure you took a few years off Hakyeon’s life. What happened?”

“I, uh, crashed,” Sanghyuk says slowly, glancing over to where Taekwoon stood. “I skidded on ice and went into a ditch. But Taekwoon helped me out.”

“Thank god for that,” Hongbin sighs, pushing his glasses up over his head. “I’m glad you found him, Taekwoon.”

“Me too,” Taekwoon says quietly, coming around to card his fingers through Sanghyuk’s hair. Sanghyuk leaned into the touch, a small smile pulling at his lips, and felt Taekwoon step closer to him.

“Well, you two certainly aren’t going anywhere in this weather tonight,” Hakyeon says, looking out the window. “I’ll go make up the bed in the guest room. Would you two want to share, or...?”

He trails off, but Taekwoon is already straightening. “I can’t stay,” he says softly, and Sanghyuk nearly fell off the couch turning around to look at the other man.

“You’re going?” he asks, and Hakyeon lets out an incredulous sound.

“The weather is terrible outside,” Hongbin says, staring at Taekwoon. “We’d really rather you stay.”

“I can’t,” Taekwoon repeats, closing his eyes momentarily. “I— It’s too warm in here.”

“What?” Hakyeon asks, lost, but Sanghyuk gets it. He reaches up to take Taekwoon’s hand in his, feeling the clamminess clinging to his skin, and bites his lip.

“When will I see you again?”

“I’ll come back tomorrow morning,” Taekwoon promises, squeezing Sanghyuk’s hand, and he nods.

“I’ll wait for you then.”

Taekwoon nods, and then he’s bending down, pressing his lips lightly against Sanghyuk’s. Sanghyuk tilts his head up ever so slightly, chasing after the older man as he pulls away, and when Taekwoon stands up again he’s looking down, something Sanghyuk has come to realize is shyness. He finds incredibly endearing.

“I really don’t think you should be going out,” Hongbin says, watching in confusion and mounting concern as Taekwoon makes his way towards the front door, Sanghyuk trailing behind with a quilt hanging around his shoulders. “Taekwoon! Seriously, you should stay!”

“I’ll be fine,” Taekwoon says calmly, and he throws the door open. Hakyeon makes a noise of alarm as Taekwoon walks out into the blizzard and Hongbin looks like he’s half a second from wrestling Taekwoon back into the cottage. That is, until he sees how Taekwoon is glowing in the dark, and how he’s growing and glowing, the ice giant’s body rising from the ground upwards towards the sky. The giant straightens and slowly beings to walk through the storm, making its way effortlessly through the whirling snow and wind. Sanghyuk watches in awe, and when he turns, Hakyeon and Hongbin are both staring at the retreating figure of the giant with eyes wide as saucers and jaws hanging open.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Sanghyuk manages to say before bursting into laughter.

+

Surprisingly, and unsurprisingly, not much changes after that.

They bring his car back to get some repairs and Sanghyuk receives a clean bill of health once it’s apparent his cut is not infected. The weeks pass, and Wonshik’s heater breaks mysteriously several more times during the winter season. He calls Jaehwan up to fix it every time until Jaehwan stops making trips and decides to move in to save Wonshik the time and effort spent calling him up every time. Hakyeon and Sanghyuk finally meet Jaehwan in person when they attend the museum exhibition to see Wonshik’s sculptures and Hongbin’s photography displays, and Jaehwan’s pterodactyl makes them laugh so hard champagne practically goes up their nose. Taekwoon dropped by to view the artwork as well, but spent most of his time outside after observing Wonshik and Hongbin’s creations. At this point, the reasons behind his light winter wear and preference for cold drinks and inability to stay inside heated buildings for extended periods of time was pretty obvious.

Sanghyuk had a lot of questions, and they spent most of their time talking about it at the back of the cafe after hours, with Taekwoon sitting by the open door and Sanghyuk cleaning the kitchen with his scarf tied around his neck. Taekwoon seemed to dislike Sanghyuk’s constant exposure to the cold, but Sanghyuk had experienced more than his fair share of cold winters.

“I’m not as old as you might think,” Taekwoon says when Sanghyuk asks how old he is. “What actually happens is we live through each cycle of winter. Each year we’re reborn, and we will continue to do so until we simply return as spirits to the mountains again. Our human forms reflect the approximate age we are as ice giants. As I live through more cycles, my human body will age as well.”

“Does this mean there are other ice giants walking around in town as well?” Sanghyuk asks, settling down on the stool next to Taekwoon. He slides their fingers together, grinning when Taekwoon glances away bashfully.

“Hm, I’m not sure. I don’t know what other ice giants look like as humans. We don’t really talk.”

“Figures,” Sanghyuk laughs, scooting forwards so that their knees are bumping against each other’s. “You’re pretty quiet too.”

“When you’re born from the earth itself, you find that there’s a lot more hear than say once you start to meet creatures of all sorts in the world,” Taewoon murmurs.

“That’s so cool,” Sanghyuk sighs, and laughs when Taekwoon pinches his side and then leans in to kiss him in apology.

This newfound knowledge, however, meant that Sanghyuk soon became aware of why— and when— Taekwoon would leave again.

“It’s getting warmer,” Wonshik says one day as he stares out the window of the coffee shop, sipping on a mug of warm tea, and Sanghyuk looks up, realization dawning on him.

It’s time.

+

“Will you be alright?,” Taekwoon asks, his voice calm in Sanghyuk’s ear, and Sanghyuk squeezes him tighter, resting his cheek against Taekwoon’s broad shoulder.

“I’ll be fine,” he mumbles, feeling Taekwoon’s hands rub his back soothingly. “I’ll miss you loads, but you know. Technicalities.”

Taekwoon laughs, a little chuckle that Sanghyuk’s gotten good at drawing from him, and he feels a kiss being pressed to his ear.

“Technicalities,” Taekwoon repeats fondly, and they let go of each other. Sanghyuk wipes at his eyes, grinning. He knows they’re not saying goodbye for good, and that in several month’s time Taekwoon will be back, just like he’s always done. Except, this time, he isn’t going to only visit Sanghyuk’s coffee shop. Hakyeon’s already insisted Taekwoon joined them again for a festive dinner, and Wonshik’s hinted that he’s looking into the subject of ice carving in the future, so there’s plenty of events that Taekwoon needs to come back to. Everybody had gathered to say goodbye too, each of them already very friendly with Taekwoon, but had left the pair to talk privately before Taekwoon left.

“I’ll wait for you,” Sanghyuk says. Taekwoon nods and leans over to kiss the little scar above Sanghyuk’s eyebrow, and they meet each other halfway when their lips meet. The kiss is slow and lingering, something for both of them to remember the other by, and then Taekwoon has to pull back.

“See you,” he says.

“Yup,” Sanghyuk grins. He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his windbreaker (the weather had grown too warm for long coats and scarves now), and watches Taekwoon walk down the hill. Behind him, he hears the others gather around him. Hakyeon drops and arm around Sanghyuk’s shoulders and squeezes him comfortingly. Hongbin, Wonshik, and Jaehwan stand on Sanghyuk’s other side, gazes fixed on Taekwoon’s figure until he’s nothing but a speck in the distance.

And then, they finally see something glow.

+

_Eight months later_

The bell on the door chimes and Hongbin stumbles in, shaking snow out of his hair and kicking slush off his boots.

“Hey,” he calls, letting Hakyeon skip over to press happy kisses on his cheek. “Done for the night?”

“We will be once those two freeloaders decide to get their asses out the door,” Sanghyuk says, jabbing his thumb to where Wonshik and Jaehwan were sitting, playing an intense game of Go Fish.

“You’re so stingy,” Wonshik complains, throwing his cards down.

“Yeah, but you’re  _annoying._ ”

“Jaehwan, and you just please bring Wonshik home?” Sanghyuk grumbles. “Unlike you guys, I don’t actually live in a cupboard in the back and I enjoy returning to my own apartment.

“Aww, alright then, Sanghyukkie,” Jaehwnan sing-songs, gathering up their cards at record speed. “You’re still coming over for game night this Saturday though, right?”

“I’ll be there,” Sanghyuk promises, and bats Jaehwanh’s hands away when the other tries to ruffle his hair.

“Alright, we’ll get going.”

“Bye!”

“Later!”

“Goodnight,” Hongbin calls his shoulder, the last to leave after ushering Hakyeon out the door, and Sanghyuk waves them out. He ducks outside for a breath of fresh air, watching his friends walk down the street and turn different ways once they’d reached the end of the line. The days are getting shorter again and the temperatures are slowly decreasing. When Sanghyuk woke up and saw frost on the rooftops tow days ago, he couldn’t help the excitement that rose within him. Winter was here, and now all he had to do was wait until the time was right.

He didn’t mind. Some things were worth waiting for.

A gust of wind suddenly picks up, blowing snow and ice all over Sanghyuk, and he wrinkles his nose and brings his hand up to cover his face before he realizes that none of the snow or ice is hitting him. A broad smile crosses his face and he lowers his arms, waiting for the whiteness to settle and feeling his grin grow wider and wider as the wind roars all around him.

Then, as quickly as everything had started, the snow fell back onto the ground as a pair of arms slid around his waist, cool and gentle, and a familiar voice is speaking beside his ear.

“I’m back.”

**Author's Note:**

> So if Taekwoon gives Sanghyuk a hickey, is it called a frostbite? Gotta ask myself the real question sometimes.
> 
> Thank you for reading! (´⌣`ʃƪ)♡


End file.
